Braves Off-season Thread

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I see the situation similar to Colin Kaepernick. That's a lot of coincidence if 27 teams all suddenly decided to treat free agency the same way, just as 32 teams suddenly deciding that a guy who was a play away from Super Bowl MVP isn't worth signing is odd, particularly in light of the fact that his backup started multiple games this year. This many players getting no offers could be a random situation, but I doubt it strongly. So, I absolutely think there's collusion at play here. I'm also not crying any tears for Scott Boras, who is the person most responsible for this situation due to his behavior in the 2000s. ARod's contract alone should have been the last straw since he manipulated Texas into signing a player for $75 million more than the second best offer.

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From what I understand, it's not lack of offers. Teams are willing to pay money. They've just gotten smart about handing out the 5+ year deals they used to hand out like candy to players on the wrong side of 30. I think the advent of better defensive measurements and a greater understanding of what they mean to wins and losses has meant lumbering sluggers aren't getting the deals they used to get.

If it's collusion, it's the softest, quietest, and most logical collusion ever.

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From what I understand, it's not lack of offers. Teams are willing to pay money. They've just gotten smart about handing out the 5+ year deals they used to hand out like candy to players on the wrong side of 30. I think the advent of better defensive measurements and a greater understanding of what they mean to wins and losses has meant lumbering sluggers aren't getting the deals they used to get.

If it's collusion, it's the softest, quietest, and most logical collusion ever.

It's going to be an interesting collective bargaining agreement negotiation. Everyone seems aware that players aren't getting paid early in their careers when they're most valuable.

I found myself thinking yesterday that the Kevin Millwood for Johnny Estrada trade would be reported much differently today. Millwood's WAAadj was negative (-0.1 for five straight years, actually) his whole time as a Brave. And it was almost identical every year from 2003-2010. His case circles back to our discussion last night in that his career WAR 30.7, but his WAAadj was -1.7. His career waaWL% of .514 is probably the correct evaluation of who he was, a slightly above average player who was consistently overpaid, earning right at $90 million for his career. For that, we got back a respectable catching prospect. His WAR for us was 3.4 over three years, which isn't much, but his waaWL% for us was .498. So, there wasn't a huge difference in performance with one player costing us $775k over that time and the other getting paid $20.9 million. In hindsight, that's the early warning signal trade for how baseball got smarter about salaries, even if it was a shotgun marriage due to Maddux accepting arbitration.

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Chipper is at 98.5% in the HOF voting. That's on pace to be the 2nd highest in MLB history. Only Griffey Jr topped the 99% mark. Chipper could still reach that level. Tom Seaver is the only other player to ever hit 98%.

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It's going to be an interesting collective bargaining agreement negotiation. Everyone seems aware that players aren't getting paid early in their careers when they're most valuable.

I found myself thinking yesterday that the Kevin Millwood for Johnny Estrada trade would be reported much differently today. Millwood's WAAadj was negative (-0.1 for five straight years, actually) his whole time as a Brave. And it was almost identical every year from 2003-2010. His case circles back to our discussion last night in that his career WAR 30.7, but his WAAadj was -1.7. His career waaWL% of .514 is probably the correct evaluation of who he was, a slightly above average player who was consistently overpaid, earning right at $90 million for his career. For that, we got back a respectable catching prospect. His WAR for us was 3.4 over three years, which isn't much, but his waaWL% for us was .498. So, there wasn't a huge difference in performance with one player costing us $775k over that time and the other getting paid $20.9 million. In hindsight, that's the early warning signal trade for how baseball got smarter about salaries, even if it was a shotgun marriage due to Maddux accepting arbitration.

You should write an article on this. I admit I hadn't thought of that trade this way.

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DOB said it seems like the Braves may add a big bat even if it isn't Yelich. They're apparently monitoring Todd Frazier. If he grows impatient the Braves may provide him a 2 year offer. Frazier can build more value and try again plus Riley gets more development time.

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DOB said it seems like the Braves may add a big bat even if it isn't Yelich. They're apparently monitoring Todd Frazier. If he grows impatient the Braves may provide him a 2 year offer. Frazier can build more value and try again plus Riley gets more development time.

Oh how nice, lets just sign a guy that has only hit .220/.322/.448 (.770) the last two seasons combined. Yeah, he hits homeruns and plays good defense, but ugh. Camargo hit .299/.331/.452 (.783) last year with excellent defense.